Goose Egg

Boy + wooden headboard = hematoma (aka "on Sundays we wrestle, part II")

Blessed Baby

We blessed Soren in Sacrament meeting a couple weeks ago. I can't stand the satiny baby tuxedos that seem to be the only blessing/christening outfits available for baby boys, so yes, his blessing outfit was a white pique cotton romper that had a giant green rugby number and the Ralph Lauren Polo horse emblem on it. It was not formal, but it was sickeningly preppy and totally cute.  He rocked it.  

 Aaron gave Soren a beautiful blessing.  I wore the title of a proud mother who was able to listen to the entire blessing because my other children were sitting still paying attention and being perfectly reverent (read: playing angry birds. Hey man, don't judge, desperate times.)  It was lovely. Soren fits in perfectly with our family.  He is snuggly and patient and warm and squishy and very VERY smiley.  His presence brings a loving peace and completeness to our home that we have known was missing for quite a while, and now that he is here, we can't remember life without him.

I'm pretty terrible at capturing Soren's adorable baby guy smile on camera.  He usually ends up looking goofy or like a creepy old baby man.  For the record, his smiles are the cutest thing ever...you just have to take my word for it, or come see them for yourself in real life.  He is such a sweet baby.  I'm a little (very) obsessed with him. His blessing day was a special one that was celebrated with dessert and close friends.

On a Freezing Day in October

We were out for a drive to look at the colorful trees on Saturday evening and decided to make a spontaneous trip to the pumpkin patch. We got there an hour and a half before they closed.  It was cold and windy, so we layered up in what we could find in the trunk of the van and huddled together. Soren slept most of the time and enjoyed the pumpkin patch from the comfort of his cozy carseat nest that we pulled around the patch in a wagon since we didn't think to bring a stroller. We picked pumpkins off the vines, sipped hot cocoa, ate hot dogs for dinner, rode the mule train, played on the haystack tunnels, and caught the last hayride of the evening (which was more entertaining than Jungle Cruise at Disneyland).  When we got home, we had homemade warm cinnamon applesauce before bed.

Crockpot Cinnamon Applesauce

Fill crockpot 2/3 full with peeled and sliced apples (nothing fancy, just 4-6 slices/chunks from each apple. You can use one of those hand held apple slicer things to get the cores out easily). This takes anywhere from 6-10 apples.  (usually a 3lb bag is plenty)

Add 1 TBS water to keep the apples from scorching and sticking to the bottom of the crockpot.

Depending on the sweetness of your apples, add about 1TBS white sugar (or none, or more) to the crockpot.  If you use fuji, honey crisp, or granny smith apples, you will have a pretty tart applesauce (our fave).  On saturday night I used golden delicious (because that's what was on sale for $2/bag at Aldi and I ad matched) and the applesauce had a less tart and more mild flavor, but cooked an hour faster.

Add a shake of nutmeg and 2 shakes of cinnamon to the pot.

Cook on High for 3-4 hours (3 for soft apples, 4 for hard apples)

Give apples a quick stir.  No need to puree or use a masher...the slices will practically dissolve with 4-5 beats with a wooden spoon.

Eat while it's still hot and delicious, or chill overnight, or freeze in plastic glad containers and enjoy it a month later.

As Reese says, this recipe is "easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey" and sure to become a fall favorite in your home, too.

Heart Update

At 7 weeks old, Soren was 11lbs 4oz!
That is one healthy little love chunk of a baby.

We met with the cardiologist at the Lowel extension of the Arkansas Children's Hospital.  Soren's weight, height, color, physical development, social development, and blood pressure all indicate that his heart is working the way it should and that we currently have nothing to worry about.  Soren had an EKG and his heart sounds great!  No murmur was detected, so the next step is an echocardiogram in 6 months to see if the ASD has closed yet.   Soren was a perfect patient.  We are very relieved and grateful for answered prayers and this wonderful blessing of good health.  The cardiologist told us that he never sees heart babies thriving the way that Soren is that we should know that it is a very good sign to see that he is so fat and happy.

At 8 weeks old, Soren:
-smiles at everyone and melts hearts easily
-sleeps from 11pm-4 or 5am, eats, then goes back to sleep until 8
-ROLLS OVER (yes. what the too early?!) from his stomach to his back every time he is having tummy time.
-loves the soothie pacifier
-takes a bottle and gets down to business. He will finish 4 ounces in 5 minutes and he nurses almost as quickly. Little glutton.
-gets whatever he wants if he sucks in his upper lip and pouts when he cries.
-goes to sleep independently in his bassinet
-gets carried around everywhere by Reese and held a lot and played with by Quincy
-bats at the toys on his play mat and bouncy seat.
-has been given the nickname, "Pistachio" by Aaron's coworkers.  "Stache" for short. The girls and I call him buddy or buster or baby guy or brother.
-spits up a lot, and is now taking zantac for acid reflux.  It seems to be helping a bit.
-falls asleep every time he is put in his carseat. Angelic.
-is a really easy baby, making it even easier to want to sit and hold him all morning.

On Love and Gratitude.

The past few months haven't exactly been easy for me, emotionally. I somehow managed to forget that with each miscarriage I have usually been dealt a heap of hormones that manifest themselves with anxiety, fatigue and weepiness. I didn't understand until a friend pointed it out to me that I had a good reason for suddenly feeling so crazy all of the time.

I'd like to say that it is all better now, but it really isn't.
What has changed is my attitude about it.
I know. That sounds contradicting.

How can one have a positive attitude about a negative attitude?

Challenges happen to everyone. Optimism is a tool that can help with almost any challenge. In my case, lately, those challenges are hormone wackiness, anxiety, and sadness. I can still find happiness in challenges and use it to manage and cope with sorrow. For example, I know that I can handle feelings of disapointment and fear because I know from past experience that brighter and healthier days are ahead. I am also absolutely aware that the trials I have are miniscule to the challenging mountains that others are faced with.

But that doesn't mean that some things aren't still difficult to deal with.

On Sundays, we nap. And wrestle.

Tis the season

For making caramel apples! 

Kasey and Jimmie are the coolest. 

Per tradition, they brought the goods and we made a mass of caramel apples.

This year, we made caramel from scratch.  Sweetened condensed milk, karo, sugar, butter. So easy!  I'll never go back to unwrapping 100 of those little candy cubes.

And what's a caramel apple without toppings?  We coated these bad boys with pecans, almonds, pretzels, white chocolate, butterfingers, chocolate chips, and reese's peanut butter cups.

 Cute packaging is key.